Wednesday of week 2 of the year or Saint Fabian, Pope, Martyr or Saint Sebastian, Martyr
January 20th, 2010
Mark 3, 1- 6
The Lord has been my strength he has led me into freedom, he saved me because he loved me,
Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
The Pharisee watched Jesus to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him.
The sabbatical issue of observance continues. A miracle takes place, showing how powerful Jesus is in word and deed. Jesus said to the man who had a withered hand, “Come forward”.
Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath. To save life or to kill?” They were silent.
The sabbath is the problem, and the controversy resolves around whether Jesus will go beyond the sabbatical limitation, in order to heal on the sabbath.
Healing was allowed in grave cases, on the sabbath, though not strictly in this case, as the man was not in danger of death.
Jesus now looked around at them with anger: he was grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Story claims simply that Jesus, the Son of Man has authority over the Sabbath.
Prayer
Prayer :I the Lord am with you always until the end of the world.
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Just a Thought
Hope
John XXIII, referred to as the ‘caretaker Pope’, realising the widening gap between the Church and the world of his day, wrote: “An old world is disappearing. Another one is being formed, and with this I am trying to conceal some good seed or other that will have its springtime, even if it is somewhat delayed, and comes after I’m dead.”
Thomas Merton writes: “One must not give in to defeatism and despair: just as one must hope for life in a mortal illness which has been declared incurable.”
Even when dark clouds surround us, even when everything appears to be falling apart, we must continue to believe for a better future. Whatever the problem, there is a way forward.
So, my hope is in God alone because I believe in him; this is my faith. It is in him I put my faith and that faith, my belief in God’s love for me and all his creation, is the bedrock in which like an anchor, I put my hope. Together with that hope and faith is my love and fidelity in responding to that God in whom I live and move and have my being. In him I place my hope.
“Hold fast to the hope that lies before us. This we have as an anchor of the soul” (Heb 6:15-19).
